New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams apparently won't be interviewing for the Tennessee Titans' head coaching job, after all. According to a league source, Williams was scheduled to interview with the Titans, then decided to withdraw his name from consideration. Apparently, the timing just wasn't right for Williams.

ESPN's Adam Schefter, who originally reported that Williams would interview on Thursday, said Williams withdrew himself from consideration, citing loyalty to the Saints and to former Titans coach Jeff Fisher, whom he considers his closest friend in the business.

Williams' potential candidacy made sense, considering his longstanding ties to the Titans organization. He served as an assistant coach with the Titans/Houston Oilers from 1990-2000, serving as defensive coordinator when the Titans reached the Super Bowl after the '99 season. And he has a relationships with owner Bud Adams and some members of the current coaching staff.

Williams has always described Fisher as his closest friend in the business, so it was unclear whether he'd be interested in replacing him in Tennessee.

Last month, Williams also turned down an offer to interview for the Denver Broncos head coaching job, stressing that it would take a special opportunity to lure him away from New Orleans. Williams previously served as head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2001-2003 before returning to the role of defensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins, Jacksonville Jaguars and Saints.

The Titans have already interviewed two in-house candidates for the job -- offensive line coach Mike Munchak and offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger. And they reportedly received permission to interview Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. Many reports have speculated that Munchak is the front-runner for the job, and the Tennessean's Jim Wyatt speculated that Williams may have passed on the opportunity to avoid under-cutting Munchak, whom he knows well from their time together with the Titans/Oilers.

There were a handful of reasons why Williams might have been turned off by the Titans' job. The first is his close relationship with Fisher, who had several differences of opinion with Titans ownership over the final two years. The second is the Titans' uncertain quarterback position, now that they are planning to release Vince Young. Williams has repeatedly said how important it is for him to coach on a team with stability at that position.

Finally, Williams likely would want to bring his son, Blake, with him as a coaching assistant. But the Titans have not been accomodating to such requests in the recent past. Reportedly, when Williams was being considered as a defensive coordinator candidate with the Titans in 2009, he was told that he would not be able to bring his son with him, which is one of the reasons he chose to join the Saints. And reportedly, the Fisher fallout was triggered in part by the team's refusal to allow him to promote his son Brandon from a volunteer assistant to a full-time coaching assistant.